Many companies and other organizations operate computer networks that interconnect numerous computing systems to support their operations and the services they provide to their end customers distributed worldwide. For example, data centers housing significant numbers of interconnected computing systems have become commonplace, such as private data centers that are operated by and on behalf of a single organization, and public data centers that are operated by entities as businesses to provide computing resources to customers.
Many connectors are used to connect wires for charging or transferring data from one to another. Most connector plugs have to go into sockets in a particular way-meaning holding it with an appropriate orientation and plugging in with that orientation. Users are required to look at the connector and the socket, orient the connector, and then insert it. This may be tedious, difficult, requires trial/error, and problematic in low light situations.
In many connection systems, the connector plug must be precisely aligned with the receptacle in order for the plug to be installed. In addition, the plug may need to be oriented in a particular way for the plug to be inserted in the receptacle. For example, if a USB plug is installed 180 degrees from the intended orientation, the connection will fail.
In computing-intensive facilities such as data centers, a significant number of data and power connections are required. Installing a large number of connectors where alignment and orientation are critical may be time-consuming. In addition, some types of connectors may be damaged if maintenance personnel install a connector in a crooked or at the wrong orientation.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.